Press Advisory

Press Operations

Press Advisory

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release No: 034-05June 01, 2005

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Grone addresses the National Association of Installation Developers

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment Philip W. Grone will deliver the keynote address at the annual conference of the National Association of Installation Developers (NAID), an association of defense communities, Monday, June 6, in Denver, Colo. Grone's remarks will be delivered during the general session luncheon at noon in the Exhibit Hall of the Marriott City Center.

Grone's speech will briefly cover the process used by the Department of Defense in making recommendations for base realignment and closures (BRAC). The key focus of his remarks, however, will be the department's program to assist communities with civilian reuse of military installations. He also will stress that DoD will work closely with those communities that will see growth as a result of realignment. Implementation of BRAC actions, which will not be finalized until November 2005, can be challenging for affected communities. Grone will emphasize that DoD will do everything it can to make the transition as smooth as possible. The department will provide aggressive economic assistance and reuse planning for all communities impacted by the 2005 BRAC round.

The DoD recommendations will further defense transformation, maximize joint utilization of resources and allow for the conversion of newly available real estate and ancillary personal property assets into local economic activity.

Grone's remarks and the NAID conference, June 4-7, are open for media coverage. The DoD point of contact for press issues is Glenn Flood, (703) 695-6294; e-mail: glenn.flood@osd.mil. Information on NAID and registration for the conference is available at http:// www.defensecommunities.org.